Gaborone Youth Singers mesmerise

SHARE | Sunday, 24 May 2015 | By Ontametse Sugar

Gaborone Youth Singers

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Gaborone Youth Singers (GYS) serenaded the crowd at their stakeholder meeting with their array of different choral songs on Thursday evening at the National Museum in Gaborone. The youth singers made sure that everyone danced to their songs since they fuse different genres, from dikhwaere to nice Christian and inspiring melodies. The group was formed in 1997 by former Gaborone Senior Secondary School students who were also there to see the milestone of their brainchild. The conductor Tshepiso Marumo said their initial plan from the beginning was to sing different choral music without focusing on Setswana songs. They sang in English. Marumo joined the choir at the age of about 15, and though he took a break at the age of 24 he has now come back to help take it to greater heights. On how he really got into choral he said that he has always loved the music. “No matter how successful you might become you always love what you love, and I think it was as early as about nine years that I fell in love with the music,” he said.

He said they always take part in President's Day competitions and have also participated at the national choir festivals that were sponsored by Old Mutual in South Africa. They have performed in places like Congo, Brazzaville and locally they do corporate events.

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The choir chairman Helton Matlhabi said choral music is all about volunteerism and that someone has to have the love for it and be committed so that they can be able to divide their time. He said they put two and half hours per training session where they meet twice in a week. Matlhabi said they start by doing physical exercises in order not to hinder the voices from coming out. He said unity was the attribute that helps them come with the best songs. “We can be called to sing just one song. People should just come forth and book us because we are not even expensive and it goes a long way in helping our unemployed youth in the choir,” he said.